Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Accessible Archives Expands American County Histories Collection

Upgraded Search Capabilities Enhance Access

Malvern, PA (March 7, 2012) - Accessible Archives, Inc.®, an electronic publisher of full-text primary source historical databases, has announced the expansion its collection American County Histories to 1900. The initial addition, The Southeast, will complement the New England and The Mid-Atlantic regional collections. Included states are Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia. Future plans call for additional coverage of states within the Southwest, Central and West regions.

Some 5,000 published county histories provide historians and genealogists with regional overviews and general community conditions. Ancestor research often yields collateral information about neighbors, friends and associates of family members. Additional subject areas include government, medical and legal professions, churches, industries, schools, celebrations, fire departments, cemeteries, transportation, and local and regional geological conditions. For an overview of non-traditional uses and original sources, please see our whitepaper on the topic.

In a concurrent project, Accessible Archives is enhancing access to county resources loaded prior to 2009 by improving behavioral consistency across all electronic books. Complete page images already are available for the New England states, and currently are being added to the Mid-Atlantic region. This combination of text and images will make it easier to navigate the database and to locate desired images. Users will first see these improvements in browse mode; over time, page images will be available when viewing books from a search result. All new titles will reflect this upgraded format, which is being implemented at no cost to existing clients.

Tom Nagy, COO of Accessible Archives, stated, "Our goal is to be the foremost digitized source for nationwide coverage of county histories. While many of these volumes are available online, most are not fully searchable. Our search capabilities allow the user to search across a state, across a region or across the entire country as a unified entity, thus allowing access to complete information contained in both text and images. This is painstaking work, but eventually we expect to cover all 50 states."

As an extension of its role as exclusive sales and marketing agent for Accessible Archives, Unlimited Priorities LLC® is helping expedite both these endeavors by providing technical and production assistance, product development and licensing agreements.

About Accessible Archives, Inc.

Founded in 1990, Accessible Archives utilizes computer technology and a team of conversion specialists to provide vast quantities of archived historical information previously available only in microformat, hard copy or as images only. Diverse primary source materials reflecting broad views across American history and culture have been assembled into comprehensive databases. Developed by dedicated instructors and students of Americana, these databases allow access to the rich store of materials from leading books, newspapers and periodicals then current. Accessible Archives will continue to add titles covering important topics and time periods to assist scholars and students at all academic levels. Accessible Archives has retained Unlimited Priorities LLC as its exclusive sales and marketing agent.

Contacts:

Tom Nagy, COO
Accessible Archives, Inc.
866-296-1488
tnagy@accessible.com
www.accessible-archives.com

Iris L. Hanney, President
Unlimited Priorities LLC
239-549-2384
iris.hanney@unlimitedpriorities.com
www.unlimitedpriorities.com

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